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Homeserve to probe phone campaign

The domestic repairs group launches an audit of one of its outsourced marketing providers, which has bombarded Thames re

Notes: This article, available in full only to FT.com subscribers, describes an investigation that Homeserve is conducting into the activities of a marketing provider. It is alleged that this company has left aggressive marketing messages on answering machines. The messages are suggested to reflect and refer to the Ofcom requirement to leave an Informative Message, including the number for a return call, in the event of an "abandoned call". Ofcom is reported as commenting that callers are expected to know whether a call is answered by an individual or a machine and should only apply its rules covering "silent calls" in the former case. Ofcom suggests that leaving messages on answering machines could be treated as "persistent misuse". The ICO is reported as commenting that there is no requirement to leave such messages under the terms of the PECR. There is no reference to a comment from the ICO about the fact that the message is a clear breach of PECR #19.

Published on 4th Dec 2010. Clipped by silent.calls on 4th Dec 2010, last edited by silent.calls on 4th Dec 2010